Colorado Sen. Mark Udall commends Denver Lumber as one of state's first stockists, suppliers of beetle-killed wood to builders, contractors
Wendy Lisney
DENVER
,
February 23, 2012
(press release)
–
With the spreading bark beetle epidemic felling more of Colorado's forests every day, Mark Udall today commended a Denver lumber supplier for selling beetle-killed lumber for construction and renewed his call to other Colorado homebuilders to follow suit. The Denver Lumber Co. is one of the first major suppliers of beetle-killed wood in Colorado to sell mainly to professional builders and contractors, instead of retail shoppers.
"Denver Lumber is filling a much-needed niche in Colorado by supplying beetle-killed wood to home builders. I applaud their leadership in putting beetle kill to use and supporting rural economies that depend on our forests," Udall said. "The Mountain West has millions of acres of beetle-killed trees turning into fuel for wildfires and endangering our communities. Using beetle-killed wood products in home construction is a creative solution that creates multiple wins for Colorado: it helps clear forests of dead and dying trees, protects public safety, and stimulates jobs in the lumber, forest-management and construction industries across our state."
Mitigating the impact of the bark beetle epidemic on Colorado has been a top priority for Udall for over a decade; he hopes to help communities and businesses find ways to create local jobs, clear dead and dying trees, and perhaps even find new sources of energy, as one Colorado business did with beetle-killed wood pellets. Udall last year called on Colorado homebuilders to use beetle kill at an event showcasing a home built by New Town Builders, a Denver builder of energy-efficient homes that has pledged to use pine-beetle wood in constructing its homes. Finding ways to encourage Coloradans to make use of beetle-killed timber and byproducts is among the many forest-health issues he is advocating. Denver Lumber gets its stock from the Intermountain Resources mill, one of the sawmills that was able to renegotiate its timber contracts last year after Udall worked with the U.S. Forest Service to free them from burdensome, pre-recession terms. Last year, he also requested a comprehensive study to identify ways to address the epidemic and fought to protect infrastructure from wildfire.
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